Critics of high-stakes testing, however, said on Friday that the plan
amounted to tweaks around the edges that would do little to change the
culture of schools.

“It’s duplicitous,” said Monty Neill, executive director of FairTest,
a group based in Massachusetts that opposes the use of high-stakes
tests. “The political intention is to try to get students and parents to
accept the bad system.”

“All this emphasis is being put on testing, instead of developing an
enriched curriculum that produces real learning for children,” said Jane
Hirschmann, co-chairwoman of Time Out From Testing, a statewide
coalition. “This is not going to satisfy any of us.”